Okay ladies and gentlemen ... The signups for the dueling club are officially closed. We have a total of 38 participants this round: 26 will be crafting hats and 12 will be knitting socks.

So, with wands at the ready … Here is what each of your duels will require:

Crochet Hat Pattern Specs

The crocheted hat will require a skein (less than 200 yards) of worsted weight yarn. You will also be using a K (6.5 mm) hook as well as an I (5.5 mm) hook. The recommended gauge is 3 dc (with the K hook) is equal to one inch. Tools include a yarn needle (for tucking in ends).

Knit Hat Pattern Specs

The knit hat will require a skein (less than 200 yards) of worsted weight yarn. You will also be using US 8 (5mm) knitting needles – a 16” circular and DPNs. Tools include a cable needle and yarn needle (for tucking in the ends). There is no gauge listed, per se, so you will have to wait and look at the pattern to determine how to resize the hat to fit your partner (i.e. do more or less pattern repeats, if necessary).

Sock Pattern Specs

The sock knitters will require 1 – 2 skeins (between 250 to 500 yards) of DK (8 ply) sock yarn. The amount of yarn required depends on the size of the sock you will be knitting. They recommend one skein for the women’s sizes and small or medium men’s sizes but two skeins (or one plus a contrasting color) for the larger men’s sizes. You will also be using US 4 double pointed needles (or size needed for gauge) and they recommend a US 4 - 12” circular needle, but it is optional and the whole sock can be worked with the DPNs. You will also need a yarn needle and stitch markers. The recommended gauge is 6 sts in stockinette = 1” (after blocking) and 8 rows = 1” (after blocking).

Initiating Contact

You will have to contact your partner to get their mailing address, sizing information and color preferences. I will e-mail everyone the bracket along with a list of participants and their e-mail addresses so that you can do so. Keep in mind that this is also meant to be a stash busting event so please don’t feel like you have to go out and purchase new yarn to participate. Feel free to use yarns from your stash, as long as they are the correct weight for the pattern.

The patterns will be posted on the HSKS6 blog THIS Sunday, September 21st at 10:00 AM CST and the dueling will begin!